Following is an excerpt from a report in http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=442287&sid=REG.
The Uttar Pradesh cabinet on Saturday gave its approval to set up two institutes of the level of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) under public-private partnership basis.
According to the cabinet decision, the proposed institutes would be set up with an estimated investment of Rs 500 crore each.
An official release issued here said that the cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Mayawati also decided to set up two engineering colleges with private participation in the backward eastern region of Ambedkar Nagar and Azamgarh.
An investment of Rs 200 crore is expected on them.
As many as 50 polytechnics would also be set up in public-private partnership costing Rs 20 crore each.
There is also a proposal to set up 250 ITIs in as many development blocks with an investment of Rs two crore each.
Besides, private investment would also be open for Upgrading facilities in existing polytechnics and ITIs, the release said.
A decision was also taken to bring the Lucknow Institute of Engineering and Technology into the ambit of the UP Technical University (UPTU) as an associate degree college.
The cabinet also decided to include the Lucknow College of Architecture as one of the faculties of UPTU.
It also decided to introduce English from class I.
May 11th, 2008
Update: Hindu also has a detailed report on this.
Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.
As part of its ongoing Corporate Social Responsibility exercise, Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL), Lanjigarh, has adopted all the 400 Anganwadis in six blocks of Kalahandi district under a project, Bal Chetna, in association with Sterlite Foundation and Government of Orissa through private-public partnership.
… The people were quite happy and enthusiastic about the new project, Bal Chetna, which will take care of their children’s health, nutrition and early education. Vedanta has already earned a good name for successfully operating 32 Child Care Centres with 1,139 children in the 18 peripheral villages at Lanjigarh. With free uniforms, nutritious midday meals, afternoon snacks and proper grooming, these centres have already laid a solid foundation for nurturing the future generation.
People are sure that children of areas beyond the peripheral villages and those of the entire district will now have access to similar facilities that can ensure a better future for them. The Collector said the Bal Chetna project would not only ensure a bright future for children but also open direct and indirect growth opportunities for the local youth. VAL vice-president Dr Mukesh Kumar said the company’s objective of taking up the project is to significantly upgrade the Anganwadi services under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).
Vedanta intends to bring in visible improvement in the quality of education of the children, especially, the underprivileged, in the age group 0-5 years, by providing five-fold services that include play way method of learning, nutritious food, improvement in health status with focus on anaemia reduction and logistic support like education materials.
May 11th, 2008